Why were ancient Egyptian pharaohs cruel?

Answer 1

In the days before modern media and communications I supect the Pharaoh had little idea of how many of his people faired. On the other hand there is little evidence to support the idea that he went out his way to ill treat them. Building temples may seem an odd way of caring for his people but it kept them in favour with the gods and provided employment for thousands of his subjects. There was the Nilometer which measured the level of the inundation and a reporting system so that the people would know when to plant and how good the harvest would be. In years when the inundation failed a system of famine relief was put into action.

Answer 2

The question really is: why are humans cruel?

Ancient Egyptians were as cruel as others of that time. To modern people, the deeds of ancients might seem overly cruel, but it is no secret that warring, battling, killing, murdering, genociding, torturing, slaving, raping, executing and all kinds of mistreatment of other human beings haven't gone anywhere. They are all here, because humans haven't changed. And we cannot even change.

It's just that we developed countries have developed so great weapons of mass destruction that we can't afford to wage war against each other anymore. The wars have ceased completely between developed nations, but they continue in underdeveloped countries. Wars and killing and all kinds of cruelty will never end, it is part of human nature. Human is an animal, just like any other, and animals kill other animals if they get any advantage of it. And some times for no reason at all, just for entertainment. That's life. Some get killed, some survive, and those who survive, have killed others, so the killer's genes get passed onwards in a neverending cycle. Only the fittest ones will survive in evolution.

Human population will probably destroy itself within one thousand years from now. It may happen by nuclear war, or by ecologic catastrophe, or by both.